30-40 inches of snow, then clear for weekend

The color radar at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday off the Pacific Coast. The big glob of yellow in the Rockies is the storm that went through the Sierra on Monday. The next glob of yellow off northwestern California will enter tonight, and the storm brewing offshore to the west shows up Wednesday. The speckled areas between fronts represents cold, unsettled air with snow showers.

It’s taken three months to the first weekend in March to finally get to a decent ski weekend in the high Sierra: 30 to 40 inches of snow projected for the week — the weather and roads then clearing for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, to make it easy to get in and out of the Sierra Nevada.

The first storm wave arrived Monday to the Sierra with 5 to 18 inches of snow reported at resorts by Tuesday morning, depending on where (and often who) measured it. Heavenly at South Lake Tahoe and Homewood, on the western shore of Lake Tahoe, both reported a fresh 17 inches.

On Tuesday morning, Kirkwood reported 12 inches of fresh snow, a base of 67 inches at the lodge, 75 inches on top, with all 72 runs open and 100 percent of terrain available.

After the coming blast, vast new areas of terrain should open at the bigger resorts, smaller resorts will be 100 percent open, and surface conditions have the chance to be ideal.

With snow at lake level at Tahoe, all the mountain highways got hammered on Monday. Roads cleared Tuesday morning, providing a short respite to get through the Sierra today prior to the pounding that is expected to start tonight. Just last week, the roads and ground were virtually bare at lake level.Calm before storm: the scene at 8:28 a.m. Tuesday on I-80

Several live cams show that seeing is believing. Here’s a shot from Sugar Bowl just prior to opening on Tuesday; it actually looks like winter:

It looks like winter: the scene at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at Sugar Bowl

More to come: After this week’s hit, a storm with heavy snow is predicted to arrive next Monday night.